One other item that I haven't yet seen mentioned...last year's preseason -- unlike the preseason to 107-win 2021 -- was marred by the second-longest work stoppage in history, a 99-day lockout, which, combined with an insistence on a 162-game season meant that spring training was severely truncated.
My working theory is that (a) an older team like the Giants take longer to get in game-ready shape, and (b) that nagging, persisting injuries are the result of a truncated spring training and c) a team that depends on players to play a myriad of positions needs time to round their defense into shape and (d) defense improves with repetition, which wasn't afforded in last year's short preseason, and (e) when a team has a demonstrably superior coaching/training/nutrition/other staff like the Giants have; the longer the spring training, the more effective the advantages from the Giants' numerically superior staff.
That's why there were 107 wins in 2021 and 81 wins in 2022.
My working theory is that (a) an older team like the Giants take longer to get in game-ready shape, and (b) that nagging, persisting injuries are the result of a truncated spring training and c) a team that depends on players to play a myriad of positions needs time to round their defense into shape and (d) defense improves with repetition, which wasn't afforded in last year's short preseason, and (e) when a team has a demonstrably superior coaching/training/nutrition/other staff like the Giants have; the longer the spring training, the more effective the advantages from the Giants' numerically superior staff.
That's why there were 107 wins in 2021 and 81 wins in 2022.
Audaces fortuna iuvat